The next eight weeks are the toughest yet most enjoyable part of training. While speedwork is important I will concentrate on building miles over the next eight weeks. Hopefully by October I will be in race shape and will begin tapering the first three weeks in October. This lets me take almost a full week off before the race so my body is fully recovered, rested and ready for the big day.
Today was a great run, felt reinvigorated after only one run over the past five days. The blister on my foot is going away and the body fells good. Ran nearly 7 miles today in 90 degree heat and never felt any pain. Love that feeling.
I'm also going to try something new, instead of posting my daily stats I will try and download stats weekly from my GPS system. This will give you a much better perspective of what marathon training is all about.
Also have some great news CNBC is going to cover my marathon run - guess they think a slow old guy with diabetes makes a good human interest story - hope it helps me raise more money for my favorite cause.
The rest of the week is supposed to hot and my brother's daughter is getting married this weekend. My whole family will be here but I will still get my runs in. Honestly I feel better when I run even if the run doesn't go as planned. Although the race is still 12 weeks away I can't let up even if that means running in 90 degree heat.
Learned a valuable lesson last week and won't forget it - although I think I need a smaller cell phone - mine is too bulky to run with - will have lots more news in the next days so stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Body Shut Down
Yesterday's long run was a reminder that as hard as I might try I can't escape the fact that I'm 46 years old and have diabetes. As I have stated previously I don't like carrying my mobile phone with me during a run and normally this is not a problem. Once in a while I need to be reminded that it's better to safe than sorry.
Everything started out well as I decided to run early in the morning while it was overcast. The forecast called for sunny skies latter in the day so I thought it was best to run at the coolest part of the day. I also decided to run a beautiful trail near my house that offers the option of running almost any length run. What I didn't count on was the humidity and making a wrong turn.
My goal was to run between 12 and 14 miles and everything was going well. I was at 8.4 miles when I decided to turn around and head back. I figured that 16.8 wouldn't a stretch since I did 15.5 last weekend. What I didn't count on was on the way back I took the wrong trail. This may sound strange or stupid but this particular trail is actually a combination of multiple trails that go in various directions. If your not careful it's easy to make a wrong turn and end up running in a completely different direction, which is what happened to me yesterday.
Honestly I felt like an idiot when I discovered that I made a wrong turn but I had no choice to back track and get to the correct path. Unfortunately I ran out of both water and Gatorade and based on where I was there was no water fountains for another 3 or 4 miles. The one thing I don't want to risk is a hypoglycemic event while running, for a diabetic this can be a dangerous even life threatening event. Although I carry glucose with me while I run, there are times when your levels drop quickly making recovery even more difficult.
You also have to worry about cramping up which can happen when your body isn't properly hydrated. This happened during my second marathon at mile 19 and running the last 7 miles in pain was not a pleasant experience.
So there I was out of water and Gatorade about two miles from where my car was parked and my body was running out of gas. Thankfully I was able to find a phone, call my wife who picked me up and drove me back to my car.
All in all I got in about 16 miles. Still not a very pleasant experience but a valuable reminder that it's better to be safe than sorry. Although I don't like carrying a mobile phone during long runs it does make sense - if only for piece of mind.
Everything started out well as I decided to run early in the morning while it was overcast. The forecast called for sunny skies latter in the day so I thought it was best to run at the coolest part of the day. I also decided to run a beautiful trail near my house that offers the option of running almost any length run. What I didn't count on was the humidity and making a wrong turn.
My goal was to run between 12 and 14 miles and everything was going well. I was at 8.4 miles when I decided to turn around and head back. I figured that 16.8 wouldn't a stretch since I did 15.5 last weekend. What I didn't count on was on the way back I took the wrong trail. This may sound strange or stupid but this particular trail is actually a combination of multiple trails that go in various directions. If your not careful it's easy to make a wrong turn and end up running in a completely different direction, which is what happened to me yesterday.
Honestly I felt like an idiot when I discovered that I made a wrong turn but I had no choice to back track and get to the correct path. Unfortunately I ran out of both water and Gatorade and based on where I was there was no water fountains for another 3 or 4 miles. The one thing I don't want to risk is a hypoglycemic event while running, for a diabetic this can be a dangerous even life threatening event. Although I carry glucose with me while I run, there are times when your levels drop quickly making recovery even more difficult.
You also have to worry about cramping up which can happen when your body isn't properly hydrated. This happened during my second marathon at mile 19 and running the last 7 miles in pain was not a pleasant experience.
So there I was out of water and Gatorade about two miles from where my car was parked and my body was running out of gas. Thankfully I was able to find a phone, call my wife who picked me up and drove me back to my car.
All in all I got in about 16 miles. Still not a very pleasant experience but a valuable reminder that it's better to be safe than sorry. Although I don't like carrying a mobile phone during long runs it does make sense - if only for piece of mind.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Blisters and rain = extra days rest
Today was supposed to be another 6 to 8 miles but due to weather conditions and blister it looks like an extra day of rest. Blisters unfortunately are common during training and based on past experience it's better to let them heel then risk a more serious problem down the road.
With the marathon 100 days away, taking an extra off day won't hurt too much and actually will do some good as the weekend is coming which means another 13+ miles. Add in the fact it's been raining off an on all day and this decision makes even more sense.
The one thing I want to avoid is any injury that would prevent me from running for an extended period of time. Things are going well right now and I want to maintain my momentum but not do anything stupid.
With the marathon 100 days away, taking an extra off day won't hurt too much and actually will do some good as the weekend is coming which means another 13+ miles. Add in the fact it's been raining off an on all day and this decision makes even more sense.
The one thing I want to avoid is any injury that would prevent me from running for an extended period of time. Things are going well right now and I want to maintain my momentum but not do anything stupid.
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